DOT opposes bill giving towns veto over roundabout

A Wisconsin lawmaker is proposing that final say in whether a roundabout should be built on state and county highways should be given to municipalities. Wisconsin DOT photo

MADISON — A Wisconsin state lawmaker said Tuesday that municipalities should have the final say on whether roundabouts are built on state and county highways, saying local officials are in the best position to say whether they are needed.

Wisconsin is seen as a national leader in using the European-style traffic circles, building an estimated 280 in about two decades on state and local roads. Another 90 are planned over the next three years, according to the state Department of Transportation.

For Rep. David Craig, R-Big Bend, the buildout may be going too far. Craig testified before the Assembly Committee on Transportation in support of his own bill to steer control back to local governments.

"I think that the DOT is over-utilizing them and putting them in places where they are just not workable," Craig said in an interview. "Whether that's because it's too much of a hassle to negotiate them or the traffic count is too high, it's a combination of those problems."

A state engineer spoke against veto power for local communities, saying the roundabouts have cut crashes.

"We started doing roundabouts because Wisconsin back in the late 1990s (was) identified as having an above average crash problem at intersections," said Jerry Zogg, a WisDOT Chief Roadway Standards and Methods Engineer. "We needed to figure out a way to have intersection crash rates (down) in Wisconsin."

A WisDOT study last year found they reduced severe crashes in Wisconsin by 38 percent, although they increased less serious "fender benders" — perhaps by motorists unsure how to negotiate them — by 12 percent.